February 10 - 16

  Felix “Just One More Turn” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “113th Anniversary of the abdication of the last Emperor of China” week!

On 12 February 1912, Emperor Puyi of China was forced by revolutionaries to abdicate after 4 years of being Emperor of China. He was 6 years old. This evidently stuck in his craw, because he went on to make a number of attempts to retake his throne, culminating in his corroboration with the Japanese when they invaded China before World War 2. He was tried as a war criminal, re-educated in prison, released and then joined the Chinese Communist party. You may all celebrate by playing a game where your companion’s loyalty quest takes too long

Thank you for your patience with my late posting—I would love to say that I’m late because I’ve been poopsocking Civ VII, but instead I am recovering from a minor surgical procedure. It went perfectly, I am OK, but I’m under strict doctor’s orders to lie down, which is the only position incompatible with my sit/stand desk setup. I also appreciated the well wishes in the comments. You folks rule!

If you bought the Avowed Premium Edition, you can play it this week, ahead of its official launch on 18 February. I’ll be able to do Avowed more justice next week.

This week is all about Civilization VII. It’s the GOTW and potentially my GOTD.

Reviews have been out for a week already. But I’ve been playing Civ since most of those reviewers were in nappies, so I don’t need anyone else to tell me whether Civ is good. I tuned in to a lot of the early previews a few months ago, to get a glimpse of the new features. I liked what I saw, then went radio dark. I want to experience Civ VII for myself, without a head full of other peoples’ opinions.

I thought I was a 4X strategy gamer, but it turns out I’m married to Civ. I was 15 when the first Civ came out and immediately fell in love. No other game series has been as constant, through every decade of my life since we met. I’ve flirted with Paradox and Endless games, swayed by the wormtongued words of respected strategy podcasters, who whisper that their mechanics are objectively hotter. But I always end up back on Civ’s doorstep, cap in hand, asking for one more turn.

I’ve played them sequentially and mostly single player, so for the last 8 years, I’ve been pouring my Sands of time into Civ 6. I’ve had a great time with it, but like a favourite teddy bear, it has been loved to death. Its eye is missing, half the stuffing has fallen out, and I want a new toy.

Civilization VII offers not just the excitement of the new, but from what I saw, the devs have made major changes that address nearly all my gripes with Civ 6.

• Combat and unit movement has been overhauled: Now you can collect units together under Great Generals and move them as a clump. Moving your armies will no longer be so fiddly that you just go “screw it” and wait for bombers.
• The “3 Ages” system adds some mid-term stakes: Civ can often feel like you are locked into a particular strategy from turn one, rather than adapting as you discover more map and meet other Civs. You feel like you need a perfect start, but a perfect start makes the back half of the game an easy, too-long cruise to the finish. Civ 6’s Golden Age/Dark Age system was an attempt at balancing this, and also to give you medium term goals. It didn’t go far enough and I am happy to see it expanded upon with a more drastic Ages system. Civ VII divides the game into 3 Ages, which each end in a mini-crisis that affects every civ and then there is a partial reset going into the next Age. Players say they love to have stakes, but they also hate to lose progress. The Ages system looks like an interesting attempt to thread that needle. Endgame has long been the Achilles’ heel of the Civ series, and anything that tries to spruce it up is welcome.
• Diplomacy has been overhauled: they say this with every Civ, and it admittedly does look more nuanced than Civ 6, so let’s see how it pans out this time.
• Leaders detached from civs: I alway enjoyed Civ for its historical incongruence, rather than as a pure history simulator. Being nuked by Ghandi is hilarious! I am therefore excited about being able to mix and match leaders with civs. One of the keys to replayability is messing with different leaders. This gives flexibility and many more permutations to explore.

There’s a ton of other tweaks to every system, but I stopped paying attention to all the nitty-gritty. I was too busy drooling at the maps. Civ maps have always sung to me more than most other games’ maps. The Civ VII map looks so much more lush and detailed than in Civ 6, and I loved Civ 6. One late night session, I was bothered by a buzzing in my ear and began swatting feverishly, wondering how the hell a fly got in my room at 3am, before realising I had my cursor hovered over a beehive and it was making bee sounds. Anyhoo, Civ VII makes another graphical leap, not just in its art style but the scale. Mountains are now truly vertiginous! Rivers flow and look actually hard to cross! Cliffs look imposing! Cities sprawl! I am so glad this is also out on consoles because I need to see this on my big-screen TV.

I could go on, but the bottom line is that I am ecstatic to have a new Civ and am relishing the prospect of luxuriating in Civilization VII. But I’m not in any particular rush. Like a nice hot bath, the mood has to be right and I want to take my time with it. I’ve compared Civ to various things in this ramble: a wife, a teddy bear, a hot bath. They each denote comfort, and that’s what the Civilization series means to me. I just can’t see myself not liking Civ VII. I’m in for the long haul and going to savour every moment!

GWJ Word of the Week

One More Turn: an ironic term that is used to describe the addictive, time-sinking gameplay loop of grand strategy games. It was first used to describe the experience of playing Civilization. The joke is that it’s way past your bedtime and you should (and could) stop playing at any time, but you are compelled to take just one more turn to finish that building, or win that war. Then the next thing you know, it’s 3am and you’re swatting at imaginary flies.

Here's the list, in release-date AND alphabetical order!

PC

• 02-11

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

• 02-12

• 108 Silly Ways to Die
• Bearly Delivered
• Cacophony
• Casino Heist: Escape Room
• CodeReactors
• Darkblade Ascent
• Endless Deaths
• Escape the Tower
• Hellcrackers
• holo8
• IcoNick Duster - Planets Defender
• keyboard warrior
• Night at Grandma's
• Pitch Race Car Racing
• Primal Hearts 2
• Super Jagger Bomb 2: Go East
• Sweet Tooth
• Zero Point Survivor

• 02-13

• 100 Romantic Cats
• Bedtime Story : Saint
• Dawnfolk
• DBall
• Dead Dragons
• Drive Thru Simulator : Prologue
• find y
• Gemmas Gauntlet
• Guns of Fury
• HEINZ HONOR & REVENGE
• HGPP
• LOST EGG the Hard Boiled
• METAL SUITS: Counter-attack
• Moorhuhn VR Blast
• Mother
• optimal conditions for a sacrifice
• Panelka
• PROJECT TACHYON
• Reaper's Awakening!
• Recall: Empty Wishes
• Sacred of Gates : Tinder
• Shujinkou
• Slime Heroes
• StripBrickBreakerSimulator
• Sweet Fantasy World
• Terry's Other Games
• The Escape Room Chronicles ep3:The Southern Resort
• Tomboy: Annoying Childhood Friend
• Void Climber
• Youtopia

• 02-14

• A Few Days With : Valentina
• Afterlove EP
• BodyCamera Shooter
• BRXKEN INSIDE
• Carpathian Survival
• Caught Lacking - Femboy Edition
• Ceuswark Defenders
• Chlorofell
• Cubey Quarry
• Deadly Footprints
• Dominated By: Sadistic Valentine
• Dominated By: Yandere Goth Girlfriend
• Drop 'n' Fill!
• Dungeon Spheres
• Going for Nuts
• Harukuru. - Spring has come true? -
• Helios Hotel: The Night Shift
• HorrorCore: Maze and Pools of Horror
• Kira * Kano
• Last Spirit PBT
• MiniGolf Showdown
• PASSIONERS
• Peril in the Pines
• Rhya's Crusade: The Aradia's Reavers
• Samui Kara Nabe Kui Tai ne Onna Sono Chanto!!
• Satisfying Simulator
• Shadowgate 2
• SQUASER 4
• TAPE DENIAL
• The Candle
• The Cursed Moon ~The Girl Trapped in the Haunted House
• The Cyriaan Chronicles
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II
• Third Party President
• Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered
• Veins Like Tapeworms
• Velvet Bite: Softly, with Teeth
• Weirdo
• YUME 5 : Spring Festival of Lust

• 02-15

• Alpha League HD

• 02-16

• Conundrum
• Cute Robot Time
• Cute Space Shooter
• Decofarm
• Jigen
• NO-SKIN
• The OG Cake Factory
• Trade 'Em Up! TCG Empire Shop
• zombie tide incoming Rising

Xbox Series X

• 02-11

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

• 02-12

• Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room

• 02-13

• METAL SUITS: Counter-attack
• Recall: Empty Wishes
• Slime Heroes
• Snezhinka

• 02-14

• Afterlove EP
• Blood Hunting
• Dead Dragons
• Deep, In the Forest
• Doggy Up!
• Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered
• Witch of the Meta Loop

Xbox One

• 02-11

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

• 02-12

• Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room

• 02-13

• METAL SUITS: Counter-attack
• Recall: Empty Wishes

• 02-14

• Blood Hunting
• Bumblebee - Search for Happiness
• Dead Dragons
• Deep, In the Forest
• Doggy Up!
• Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered

PlayStation 5

• 02-11

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

• 02-13

• METAL SUITS: Counter-attack
• Recall: Empty Wishes
• Shujinkou
• Snezhinka
• Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip
• Urban Myth Dissolution Center

• 02-14

• Afterlove EP
• Dead Dragons
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II
• Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered
• Unsolved Case: Above the Law

PlayStation 4

• 02-11

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

• 02-13

• METAL SUITS: Counter-attack

• 02-14

• Dead Dragons
• Gensou Rougoku no Kaleidoscope I + II Set
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II
• Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered
• Unsolved Case: Above the Law

Nintendo Switch

• 02-11

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

• 02-12

• Penguin Flight
• Super Jagger Bomb 2: Go East
• Urban Myth Dissolution Center

• 02-13

• Amber Isle
• Arctic
• Bioweaver
• Bumblebee - Search for Happiness
• Crosswords: World Tour
• Dead Dragons
• Discolored 2
• Echoes of the Plum Grove
• Guns of Fury
• Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart
• Make it! Donut
• Matchmaker Agency
• METAL SUITS: Counter-attack
• Puzzle & Summoner
• Recall: Empty Wishes
• Sagase! Botchi no Picto-san
• SIMPLE Series for Nintendo Switch Vol.4 THE Misshitsu kara no Dasshutsu Yo ni mo Kimyou na Yottsu no Hanashi
• Slasher: Origins
• Slime Heroes
• Snezhinka
• Sokocrab
• Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip
• Witch of the Meta Loop

• 02-14

• Afterlove EP
• Chibi Ninja Shino-kun Treasure of Demon Tower
• Doggy Up!
• Gensou Rougoku no Kaleidoscope I + II Set
• Girlfriend from Hell
• House Mansion Flipper
• Kid Adventures: Sky Captain
• The Beastmaster Princess
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II
• Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered
• Truck Mechanic Sim 2025

• 02-15

• Call of Sentinels
• Leafy Season